"Sharp, quirky, and occasionally nettlesome", Walking the Berkshires is my personal blog, an eclectic weaving of human narrative, natural history, and other personal passions with the Berkshire and Litchfield Hills as both its backdrop and point of departure. I am interested in how land and people, past and present manifest in the broader landscape and social fabric of our communities. The opinions I express here are mine alone. Never had ads, never will.

May 25, 2011

In the parlance of historical reenacting, the word "farb" is a derogatory term for someone whose indifference to authenticity manifests itself in the use of inappropriate items or anachronistic comportment. The commitment to well documented items of period material culture and accurate historical impressions that draws many of us to the hobby can also produce extreme obsessiveness. There are some who would not dream of appearing in the field in anything less than hand woven, hand died fabrics and uncomfortable straight last shoes, and others who are content to use the best they can get until they can find something better.

Standards of authenticity can range from merely acceptable to absolutely hardcore, but "farby" gear and behavior can be glaringly off putting, and all things being equal I would rather avoid making common mistakes and ill advised purchases.

The trouble is that documentation for some of the items used during the time period of the American Revolution that I depict, either in general or by particular units, is often either extremely limited or non-existent. Unlike the mid 19th century, there are no contemporary photographs of items used and worn by the Continental Army, leaving us only with those artifacts that have survived to the present day, written records (often incomplete and inadequately described), and period illustrations and portraits which provide only a few glimpses of enlisted men and the way they lived, dressed and fought.

I fall in with the 1st New Jersey Continentals (2nd establishment), which depicts the unit on campaign as it was in 1777. This narrows the choices for uniforms and equipment in some respects - no French lottery coats yet - but even so there is no precise documentation of the cut and color of any locally procured uniform coats or any flag that may have been carried by the 1st at this time. Unlike some of its sister regiments in the New Jersey Brigade, surviving correspondence, deserter descriptions advertised in newspapers, orderly books and journals from the 1st NJ do not provide much in the way of definitive documentation.

It is possible that its commander, my ancestor Col. Matthias Ogden, was less attentive to the requirements of quartermaster and commissary than he appears to have been to grievances over the inadequacies of officer pay and to demonstrations of personal courage and daring in the field. It is also possible that in 1777, his first year as commander of the regiment and one in which the unit participated in almost constant marching and a number of sharp engagements, there was little time to devote to requisitions. Historian John Rees has done as fine a job as anyone of documenting the uniforms of the Jersey Troops in the early stages of the war up to the Monmouth Campaign in 1778, and this still leaves a good deal of room for informed guesswork and interpretation.

There is also the problem that even items for which there is contemporary documentation may be historically inaccurate when used by reenactors. Consider the "New Invented Haversack", a one strap knapsack offered for sale by modern sutlers and based on a February 1776 contractor's letter in the Maryland Archives which includes a detailed description of the item and claims that it had already been provided to PA, NJ and VA troops. One might think this was more than adequate documentation, but there is no surviving example of a knapsack of this type and no evidence that any such item was ever provided to troops in the field.

The general consensus among authenticity-conscious reenactors today is that this item should be avoided, but there are very few surviving artifacts or modern sources representing what would be considered an authentic knapsack. The best option I have found is a two strap linen canvas knapsack based on the one carried by Benjamin Warner of Connecticut and currently in the Fort Ticonderoga collection. I was able to get a Warner Knapsack kit that is no longer in production and am now learning how to sew it together authentically, but this takes a high level of commitment and is more effort than others in the hobby might consider worth taking. It ought to be easier to avoid farbiness than this.

The same charge of inauthenticity can be applied to the so-called "Pickering's Tool", an item designed and described by U.S. Quartermaster Thomas Pickering but for which no contemporary example survives in the archaeological record. Being made of iron, such tools may have been lost to corrosion, but still one would expect there to be some artifacts left if they had been widely produced. I learned this fact too late after purchasing my Pickering's Tool, but for $10 it was not as costly a mistake as it might have been and I will use it until I can replace it with something better.

Don't get me started on tents. There has been some excellent research undertaken by participants in the Yahoo group RevList that points to significant differences in authenticity between the 18th century tents manufactored for use during the Revolution and those available today from commercial manufacturers. The more authentic ones made by the 2nd VA are beautiful. Even so, unless you do it yourself, it is going to be extremely difficult to get a professionally made unbleached linen hemp duck canvas wedge tent (untreated) secured by wooden pegs through hemp rope loops with wooden washers and hand stitched grommets and with sectional tent poles held together with iron ferulles. The cost for such an item would be least twice what the standard cotton canvas wedge tent costs with flame retardant and water resistant coating. It will be vulnerable to mildew if packed when wet and may be a poor shelter during a downpour. Is it worth the effort and expense to go this route?

And that brings me back to subjectivity and the personal reasons we are drawn to this hobby. If you spend every waking moment critiquing the presentation of others in the hobby, you are just replicating a clique from High School (and a nerdy one at that). If you do not strive to learn from others in the hobby and to improve your impression, you are doing a disservice to the public and to your fellow reenactors. If it isn't enjoyable, there are better ways to spend one's discretionary income and leisure time.

On a scale of 1-10 where 1 is extremely farby and 10 is obsessively authentic, I am probably about an 8. I will shave my facial hair prior to the campaign season (and that, my friends, is a significant sacrifice to authenticity), but I will not worry if the interior, non visible stitching in my uniform coat is done by machine. I'll leave it to the really hardcore reenactors to go lose forty pounds and half their teeth and develop body lice if they want to. I am making careful choices, within my budget, in the items I acquire, and striving to improve my impression where it makes sense to do so.

Ultimately, what matters most is my behavior, on the firing line, in camp and in conversations with the public. It is more important to me to develop a greater appreciation for why people in the 18th century made the choices they did and took the actions they did - and to convey this to the public - than to quibble over minute differences in original vs. reproductions of the British long land pattern infantry musket. That distinction may be important to others, but not to the general public and is not my top priority.

Mind you, if you look in my haversack next month at Monmouth (a hand-stitched unbleached linen haversack, no less), you will find parched corn and a big slab of salt-cured bacon, nicely washed with the mold scrubbed off. My accouterments were chosen to be appropriate for early war Continental or militia use (hemp webbing instead of cotton or leather straps). My (used) civilian shoes have holes in them, and will be replaced with more authentic rough side out versions before the cold weather season. I have a wool blanket that is good enough for now.

It is a process of ongoing refinement, and curiosity, and of courtesy to others. I like my unit and my comrades, and that matters most of all.

May 22, 2011

Despite the fact that Burgoyne's Convention Troops marched in six divisions from Massachusetts to Virginia, only one of them - the German 2nd Division - left a significant written record of impressions of the journey.. I have found nothing at all from the British 1st or German 1st divisions, and only a rough itinerary for the British 2nd Division. There is a bit more from the British 3rd and German 3rd Divisions, and together these sources help to establish general routes and the identities of communities where there were encampments.They do not generally add more colorful observations than this, making those that do all the more delightful for the researcher.

We have, for example, a few observations made in Travels Through the Interior Parts of America: in a Series of Letters by Thomas Anburey, a gentleman volunteer who supposedly subsequently secured a commission in the 24th Regiment of Foot. He and another officer mistook the road on their way to Enfield, CT and ended up in Springfield, MA, home to the main American arsenal. A "friend to Government" put them up on the night and they regained the marching columns without further incident. Anburey later noted in a letter:

"not that it could be clearly proved it was merely accidental: But these Americans will not hearken to reason and no doubt they would have found people ready enough to swear, that we went there either as spies, or to destroy their stores."

Ansburey confined his remarks to describing the nature of Connecticut townships and housebuilding. Regarding the former, he noted;

"It is no little mortification, when fatiqued, after a long day's journey, on enquiring how far it is to such a town; to be informed that you are there at present, but on enquiring for the church, or any particular tavern, you are informed it is seven or eight miles further."

He was more impressed by a mill in Sharon, Connecticut invented by Joel Harvey, which "by the turn of one wheel" could grind, bolt, thresh and winnow wheat and beat and thresh flax simultaneously.

There are several useful diaries from the German 2nd Division under Brigadier General Specht. The best of these is the Du Roi Journal, written by an officer appointed commisary for the Division. A brief journal written by Ensign Johann Heinrich Carl von Bernewitz of the Brunswick Regiment Specht provides corroboration for the line of march and encampments of this divisio. Berenewitz also dryly notes certain sexual conquests (though not his own). In Enfield he observed that there were black girls with the Jaegers. In Suffield he records; "we went to dance in Captains Bartling's quarters. Girl from our quarters with Lt. von Meyern."

The servant of Captain Wilhelm von Geismar, Brigade-Major for the German Division, kept a journal that includes this entry for November 19th, 1778 when the British 3rd Division reached the tiny settlement of New Hartford:

November 19 -- In the morning at 9 o'clock went from here. The whole day we had a very bad road and came about evening to New Harford [New Hartford], where we were quartered in a public house. But we had very bad quarters. Then the militia guard came, who transported our division into a house. The officers indeed had an apartment, a room where two beds stood. But they could make no use of them. About 10 o'clock four farmers came into the room without asking, undressed, and lay down on the two beds. Because the officers were not now in the state of mind of the farmers, they went out of the room and slept partly in their coach, or at the fire which we made near the house. 16 miles. The night was very cold. (Translated by Lion Miles).

The Du Roi Journal is the most complete of any of the accounts of the Convention troops, and in addition to helping to pinpoint possible encampment sites, it includes details of the march itself that show it was not all fun and flirtation (although there were three balls held in Suffield, Salisbury and Sharon where there was dancing until dawn).

“The march through the mountains, or the so-called ‘Green Woods’ to Nortfolk (sic), which we took to day, had been described to us something very bad, and we were expecting the worst road possible. However, our expectations and every idea of a very bad road were still surpassed…Sometimes rock of 3-4 feet circumference lay in the middle of the road. It was very cold, and the water coming down the mountains was frozen, which made the ascents and descents very difficult for men, and almost impossible for horses. In short, everything was surpassed that could be called a bad road, since in addition the valleys were so swampy that it was almost impossible to walk through them. Nevertheless, the regiments would have made it, had not the wagons of the brigade of General Poor barred the way. They had been on the march since 8 o’Clock in the morning when night set in. They stayed about three miles from Nortfield (sic) in some houses in the woods to wait for the next day. I rode on as far as I could and arrived about 4 in the afternoon at Nortfolk, where I met our 1st division, which had been compelled to wait for their baggage. [The next day] The 1st division left Nortfork, and at 11 o’Clock our division took their place. The wagons with the baggage arrived late in the evening, with the exception of four which had broken down and had been left behind in the woods(Du Roi Journal: 1911: pg. 135).”

The Continental escorts of the Convention troops have left a very scant record of their experience, and from the militia none at all has come to light. Lt. Thomas Blake of the 1st New Hampshire in Poor's Brigade records the number of miles marched between townships but no details of his impressions aside from the terrible Greenwoods road. The Du Roi Journal has more to say about the Continentals who guarded the columns;

“Brigadier Poor was very polite and issued strict orders that none of his officers might go to our quarters, that we might be undisturbed…Instead of an escort of 100 men, a whole regiment turned out. Its commander was rather strict at first, but soon as he was how orderly our men behaved, he left them alone (Du Roi Journal: 1911, pg. 134).”

And what did the citizens of northcentral and northwestern Connecticut think of the Convention Troops? Local histories tend to forget that Burgoyne's men were not going the other way, from Saratoga to Boston. They speak of Hessians (though only the 3rd German division had troops from Hesse-Hanau who merited that name) but not of the British troops. In Sharon, the Singing of the German soldiers made a great impression on a young boy who would later become Governor of the state.

"It appears that a large part of this detachment were Hessians. They encamped in Sharon overnight; and when they started in the morning, the whole body sang devotional songs as they marched. The late Governor Smith, then a lad, followed them two or three miles, to hear their singing (Sedgwick, 1897: pg 75)."

Citations:

Anburey, T (1789);Travels Through the Interior Parts of America in a Series of Letters, By an Officer, Vol. I, William Lane: London.

Du Roi, A. W. (1911); “Journal of Du Roi The Elder, Lieutenant and Adjutant, in the Service of the Duke of Brunswick 1776-1778”, translated by Charlotte S. J. Epping, Americana Germanica #15, University of Pennsylvania.

Kidder, F (1868); “Lieutenant Thomas Blake’s Journal” in The History of the First New Hampshire Regiment in the War of the Revolution , pgs 25-56, Joel Munsell’s Sons, Albany, New York.

Sedgwick, C. F. (1877) ; General History of the Town of Sharon, Connecticut from its First Settlement, 2nd Edition, C. Walsh: Amenia, New York.

May 20, 2011

On November 5th, 1778, Washington assigned Lt. Col. Theodoric Bland of the 1st Continental Dragoons the task of escorting the Convention Troops to Virginia.

“Congress having determined to remove the Troops of the Convention from the neighbourhood of Boston to Charlotteville in Albemarle County Virginia, an Officer of Rank and prudence will be necessary to regulate and conduct their march. I must desire you to undertake this duty. The first division of the troops was to have marched off yesterday, and will be followed by four others, at proper intervals. I would wish you to lose no time in coming up here, as the sooner you set out to meet them, the better. (WGW Vol. 13, November 5, 1778 “Letter to Lt. Col. Bland”)

On November 8th, Lt. Colonel Bland received detailed orders from Washington;

“Sir: You are hereby appointed to superintend the removal of the convention troops from the State of Massachusetts to Charlottesville in Virginia. You will therefore proceed immediately on the shortest route to Enfield, or to where the first division of the troops may have arrived, and announce yourself to the Officer commanding. You will then dispatch Major Jamison, who is directed to assist you in the execution of this duty, to the rear of the troops, to see that the necessary provisions and arrangements are made for the intermediate and successive divisions.

A proper escort of Militia from the State of Massachusetts is to attend the troops to Enfield, at which place they will be relieved by the militia of Connecticut, previous notice being given to have them in readiness. You will take care not to dismiss the old guard till relieved by the new. The Militia of Connecticut are to proceed as far as the North River where they will either be relieved by a guard of Continental troops, or New York militia.

During the march you will have respect to the quarter Masters who are appointed to attend the troops and see that their haulting(sic) places are convenient for cover and accommodation. You will also have regard to the Commissaries, so that good provisions be distributed and at the proper times.

You will accommodate the stages of march to the state of the weather, the condition of the troops, and the nature of the country through which they travel.

You will attend to the complaints which may arise and obviate them as far as possible.

The annexed route will bring the Troops as far on in their march as Fish Kills. You will then be furnished with a new route for your direction thro' the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and to their place of destination in Virginia.

As soon as you meet the first division of the troops it will be necessary for you to give me notice, that I may form a judgement (sic) of the time at which they may arrive at the North river. (WGW Vol. 13, November 8, 1778 “Letter to Lt. Col. Bland”)”

The Du Roi Journal of the march of the German 2nd division notes on November 17th, 1778, as they were passing between Palmer and Wilberham, Massachusetts, that they met an American major of dragoons on the road. This was Major John Jameson of the 1st Continental Dragoons, whom Washington recommended to Lt. Col. Bland as “able to give you very great assistance in conducting the march of the troops (WGS Vol 13: November 5, 1778, “Letter to Lt. Col. Bland).” It is very likely that Lt. Colonel Bland marched with the vanguard, while Major Jameson escorted the rear divisions. Sedgwick’s History of Sharon states that Jameson met up with the Convention Army in Sharon “with a regiment of Continental troops.” (Sedgwick: 1897, pg. 75).

There apparently was some sensitivity expressed in Connecticut, possibly by Governor Trumbull, concerning the need to call out the militia as escorts. Accordingly, on November 17th Washington ordered Brigadier General Enoch Poor to march with his brigade from near Hartford to Enfield, CT and escort the Convention Army through the State to the Hudson River;

“You are to march immediately upon the receipt hereof with your Brigade to Enfield at which place I imagine the first division of the Convention troops will be arrived by the time you get there. It is intended that your Brigade shall guard them from thence to Fishkill… you will be pleased to send your Baggage and Artillery thro' New Milford and Fredericksbg. to Fishkill. (WGW Vol. 13: November 17, 1778, “Letter to General Poor”).”

As was often the case during the Revolution, events preceded more rapidly than Washington’s orders could follow. Bland wrote to Washington on November 13th, 1778 after arriving in Enfield, Connecticut:

“Being detaind by almost two days heavy Rain I did not arrive at this Place before to day, where I found the [British] Convention troops just arrived Under the Command of Brigadier Hamilton, the escort from MA being commanded by Col. Gearish. They are marched in 6 divisions about 700 in each division (PGW Vol .18. pg 131.)”

Washington therefore countermanded his orders to General Poor on November 18th, 1778:

“I received a Letter from Colo. Bland, advising me that the Van of the Convention Troops were at Enfield on the 13th. and would reach Sharon to night; also that proper arrangements had been made and Militia escorts assembled for conducting them to the North river. As matters are so circumstanced and the Troops much more forward in their advance than I expected, I think it best to countermand my instructions to you of yesterday; and that they should come on under the care of Colo. Bland and the Militia provided for the purpose (WGW Vol. 13: November 18, 1778, “Letter to General Poor”).”

Poor had already marched, however. The Du Roi Journal records that the German 2nd division of the Convention Army was met at Enfield at the border between Connecticut and Massachusetts by Connecticut Militia, and that by November 20th they reached Simsbury, where “Brigadier Poor had arrived here with the Brigade before us and took command of the escort. Therefore the militia left us (Journal of Du Roi The Elder: 1911, Pg. 134).”

The British divisions, which passed through Enfield on November 13th, had reached Sharon by the time Poor’s Brigade met up with the German divisions at Simsbury. They would have had militia escorts for their entire passage across Connecticut. In all, it took two weeks for the full six divisions to make the march through the State.

Poor’s Brigade consisted of the 2nd Canadian Regiment (Congress’s Own) under Col. Moses Hazen; the 1st New Hampshire Regiment under Col. Joseph Cilley; the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment under Lt. Col. George Reid; and the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment under Col. Alexander Scammell. According to documentation compiled by Jim Hayden of the recreated 1st NH Regt., the New Hampshire regiments had just been issued new uniforms on November 16th, 1778, including “1105 French made brown coats faced in red with slash style cuffs; white waistcoats and breeches, brown overalls and lead colored stockings (Hayden, 2010).” The 2nd Canadian regiment at this time was likewise uniformed in brown French “Lottery Coats” faced with red. Originally organized on the French model as a regiment with two battalions and four majors, by the summer of 1778 the 2nd Canadian returned 522 men with 33 officers (Everest: 1977, pg. 61). The New Hampshire Regiments in Poor’s Brigade likely contained half this number.

Lieutenant Thomas Blake of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment in Poor’s Brigade recorded in his Journal;

“Nov. 20…General Poor’s brigade marched to Simsbury, where we took charge of the German troops, that were captured with General Burgoyne, they being on their way to Virginia.

Nov. 21…Marched to New Hartford 12 miles.

Nov. 22…Marched to Norfolk 15 miles, but the travelling was so bad that we were obliged to lay still 2 days for our baggage to come up (Kidder: 1868, pg. 46).”

As Poor’s Brigade escorted the Convention Troops from Simsbury to Norfolk, encampments along this route may have artifacts associated with Poor’s Continental Troops.

In the entry for November 20th, The Du Roi Journal notes that while in Simsbury,

“Brigadier Poor was very polite and issued strict orders that none of his officers might go to our quarters, that we might be undisturbed…Instead of an escort of 100 men, a whole regiment turned out. Its commander was rather strict at first, but soon as he was how orderly our men behaved, he left them alone (Journal of Du Roi the Elder: 1911, pg. 134).”

It is possible that Poor distributed his Brigade to cover the three German divisions, if the 1st of these had not proceeded too far up the road by the time Poor reached Simsbury. It is also possible that he only escorted the German 2nd Division, and indeed the militia were responsible for the rest of Burgoyne's convention troops for most of the route.

The Du Roi Journal includes an evocative description of the difficult road travelled between New Hartford and Norfolk that also indicates that contrary to Washington’s wishes, Poor’s Brigade brought their artillery with them on the march.

“It was certainly hard work to take a Brigade of four regiments with six cannon and a lot of baggage 14 miles through the woods, down a very steep mountain, then up again another one still higher and steeper, and so on (Du Roi Journal: 1911, pg 135).”

This can only describe Poor’s Brigade, as the German divisions did not have that many regiments and carried no cannon. It is possible that encampment sites in Simsbury, New Hartford and Norfolk may include relics associated with Poor’s artillery.

The Journal of Du Roi the Elder records that while in Norfolk “Brigadier Poor received orders to go into their winter quarters in Middleborough [Redding, CT] and militia took the place of the escort(Du Roi Journal: 1911,pg. 135)” .

The Journal of Lieutenant Thomas Blake of the 1st New Hampshire Regiment in Poor’s Brigade records the route of march taken from Norfolk to their winter quarters in Redding (Kidder: 1868, pg. 46). Blake records that Poor’s Brigade left Norfolk on November 25th and marched three miles past South Canaan on that day. The following day they marched 15 miles to Kent, and then to New Milford another 15 miles on November 27th. Significantly, Blake’s entry for November 27th suggests that they continued to escort at least some Germans as far as New Milford;

“Marched to New Milford [from Kent] 15 miles, where a party of militia received the German troops(Kidder: 1868, pg. 46).”

If Blake is correct, then this must refer to some of the over 50 German deserters who were reported missing during the march through Connecticut, as contemporary itineraries exist for all three German Divisions of Convention Troops. This possibility of a different route of march to New York for at least some of the German Convention troops will require further investigation to confirm or discount.

The militia bore the brunt of the responsibility for escorting the Convention Troops through Connecticut. The Records of Connecticut Men in Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution, published by the Connecticut Historical Society, makes mention of nine enlisted men who comprised a detachment of the Third Troop of the 4th Regiment of Light Horse in the Connecticut Militia who served between 12 and 14 days as an escort to the Convention troops (CHS: 1889, pg. 546.) This suggests that many of them were with the Convention Army from the time the 1st division entered the State in Enfield to the date the final division exited in Sharon.

A petition of Lieutenant Colonel Noah Phelps of Simsbury before the Connecticut General Assembly in May, 1779 attested “that he had the oversight and care of the troops under the convention of Saratoga on their march through this state, and of the guards who escorted them (Hoadley: 1895, pg. 333).” Lt. Col. Phelps served in the 18th Regiment of Connecticut Militia. Congress later directed funds to Connecticut to settle the bills and accounts of a number of militia officers “for services &c. of militia guarding the Convention Troops through said State in 1778, when they marched through Massachusetts to Virginia (CHS: 1901, pg. 188).” These were:

Captain Moses Forb(e)s (appointed in 1777 to command the 6th company in the 19th militia Regiment, which included Bolton, East Windsor, Enfield, and Hartford E. of the river)

Captain Ebenezer Fitch Bissell of Windsor

Captain Lemuel Roberts of Simsbury

Captain Chester Wells of Wethersfield

Captain Warham Gibbs

Captain Isaac Pomeroy of Suffield

Captain William Burrell

Captain Azariah Griswold of Sharon

Ensign John Reynolds (appointed in 1777 to command the 3rd company in the 19th militia

Regiment, which included Bolton, East Windsor, Enfield, and Hartford E. of the river )

Captain Hezekiah Parsons of Enfield

Colonel Noah Phelps of Simsbury

Captain Ozias Pettibone of Simsbury

Lieutenant Colonel Seth Smith of New Hartford

Captain Noah Kellogg of New Hartford

Captain Jonathan Wells of Glastonbury

Most of these officers were from militia companies that may have been called out at the beginning of the Convention Army’s transit of the State. It is not clear which, if any of them were involved in escorting either the German or the British divisions from Norfolk to Sharon. A commemorative plaque erected in 1998 on Sand Rd. in Canaan states that “In the Canaan Area, the Connecticut Militia under the command of Col. Charles Burrell of Canaan Guarded the Prisoners on their way South.”

Those militia who did accompany the vanguard of the Convention Army to Sharon on November 18th, 1778 were initially unwilling to escort them beyond the boundaries of the State. This prompted Lt. Col. Bland to write to Washington on November 13th for an additional escort of Continental troops to convey them to Fishkill on the Hudson River in New York(PGW Vol .18. pg 131.). Washington promptly issued the following General Order;

“Five hundred men from the Pennsylvania line properly officered to march tomorrow morning to Sharon to escort the Convention troops to Hudson's River (WGW Vol. 13, November 21, 1778 General Orders).”

Washington replied to Bland that same day;

“Dear Sir: Yours of last evening reached me at day Break this morning. The Continental troops will march from hence in an hour and will have orders to proceed untill they meet the troops of the Convention. I have directed one hundred Men to advance quickly before the rest. You will therefore put the first division in motion as soon as possible after this reaches you, they may march the distance between Sharon and the place where they will meet the Continental troops even without an escort, tho' I hope some of the Militia will from Colo. Meade's letter, be prevailed upon to come as far as Mabbits (WGW Vol. 13, November 21, 1778, “Letter to Lt. Col. Bland).”

These fresh escorts were troops of Brigadier General Anthony Wayne’s Division. Wayne sent his own letter announcing that help was on the way;

“Dear Bland, I find that the Connecticut militia are but a militia; I send you soldiers. Permit me to recommend Major Fishbourn to your notice: he attends as [a volunteer] aid to the detachment, which I flatter myself will not disgrace the American troops. Lieut. Col. [Samuel ]Hay, who commands the detachment, is an Irishman and soldier.” (Bland Papers: 1840, Letter LXVII, pg. 108)

The Du Roi Journal notes on November 26th that the German 2nd division arrived in Sharon where its militia escort left and was replaced by Continental troops ( Du Roi Journal: 1911, pg. 136).

Du Roi, A. W. (1911); “Journal of Du Roi The Elder, Lieutenant and Adjutant, in the Service of the Duke of Brunswick 1776-1778”, translated by Charlotte S. J. Epping, Americana Germanica #15, University of Pennsylvania.

Everest, A.S. (1977): Moses Hazen and the Canadian Refugees in the American Revolution., Syracuse University Press.

Harrison, RH (1829); “November 21st, 1778 Letter to General Anthony Wayne”, in The Register of Pennsylvania, Devoted to the Preservation of Facts and Documents and Every other Kind of Useful Information Respecting the State of Pennsylvania, Vol III, Pg. 402, Samuel Hazard, ed, WF Geddes: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Hoadley, C.J. (1895); The Public Records of the State of Connecticut from May, 1778 to April, 1780, Inclusive, Case, Lockwood & Brainard: Hartford, Connecticut.

Kidder, F (1868); “Lieutenant Thomas Blake’s Journal” in The History of the First New Hampshire Regiment in the War of the Revolution , pgs 25-56, Joel Munsell’s Sons, Albany, New York.

Sedgwick, C. F. (1877) ; General History of the Town of Sharon, Connecticut from its First Settlement, 2nd Edition, C. Walsh: Amenia, New York.

Washington, G.(2008); The Papers of George Washington; 1 November, 1778 – 14 January 1779, Vol 18; University Press of Virginia

_______ The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources: Volume 13 , Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library

May 18, 2011

On October 17, 1777, British Lieutenant General John Burgoyne surrendered his army at Saratoga. This force is said to have numbered 5,752 at capitulation, having dwindled during the campaign to just 2,442 British troops, 2,198 German soldiers and 1,100 Canadians (CHS: 1899 pg. 236), along with nearly 600 additional sick and wounded. The Articles of Convention between Burgoyne and American Major General Horatio Gates stipulated,

“A free passage to be granted to the army…to Great Britain, on condition of not serving again in North America during the present contest (Articles of Convention, Article II).”

The Convention designated Boston as the port of embarkation for the British and German troops under Burgoyne’s command, with the Canadians to be repatriated via “the first British Port on Lake George” (Articles of Convention, Article IX).

These terms were extremely favorable to Burgoyne’s surrendered force, known hereafter as the Convention troops, or Convention Army. They did not apply, however, to prisoners captured prior to Burgoyne’s surrender during the Saratoga Campaign. Some captives from these engagements were sent to the Albany jail and later conveyed under escort to other places of confinement.

The Hartford Courant recorded on Tuesday, October 28th, 1777,

“Last Sunday arrived in town 128 prisoners, among whom were several Hessian officers. They were taken at the northward before the capitulations (Stevens: 1897 pg. 143).”

The Journal of Oliver Boardman of Middletown, CT, who was in Captain Blague’s company of Connecticut militia, indicates that he was among those who escorted this group of prisoners, and traces their route of march from Albany to Harford:

Sundy 19th Towards Night, we Picht our Tents on Albany Hill.

Monday 20th I was one of Fifty that was call’d out of the Regmnt to Guard 128 ht Prifners of war

to Hartford…Att Evening we Croft the Ferry & put up at Green Buth…

Tuesdy 21st We March’d from Green Bush, to Canter Hook…

Wednesdy 22nd We march’d from Canter Hook, to Nobletown…

Thirsdy We march’d from Nobletown, to Sheffield…

Friady We March’d from Sheffield to Rockwells about the middle of the Green woods…

Satirday 25th We march’d from Rockwell to Simsbury…

Sundy 26th We march’d from Simsbury, to Hartford & Deliverd 123 Prifners to the Shertf, five of

them Left us on the March (CHS: 1899 pg 232).”

Boardman’s Journal records the passage of these prisoners from Massachusetts into Connecticut on the Greenwoods Road to Colebrook, where Rockwell’s Tavern stood. Colebrook Municipal Historian Robert Grigg confirms in his article “The Facts About Buried Hessian Soldiers in Colebrook” that Boardman’s prisoners stayed by Rockwell’s Tavern. “The Convention Troops in Connecticut”, an article by Mary K. Stevens published in the Connecticut Quarterly (1897), deals mostly with prisoners that were transported through the state in 1777 who were captured prior to the Convention, but mistakenly refers to them as Convention troops.

There may have been other small groups of prisoners from Burgoyne’s Army not covered by the Convention, in addition to those Boardman escorted to Hartford, that came through Connecticut around this time. Grigg makes the assumption that small groups from the Convention Army were likewise escorted through the State from Saratoga to Boston (Grigg pg. 3). The main body of the Convention Army itself, however, appears to have crossed in two divisions from New York through Massachusetts immediately after the surrender at Saratoga, and therefore did not enter Connecticut. Brigadier General John Glover of Massachusetts, who was given charge of escorting the Convention troops to Boston, wrote to George Washington on January 27, 1778:

“I divided them into two divisions, the British by Williamstown and Northampton, the Germans by Kinderhook and Springfield” (AAS: 1877, pg. 58).

Roger Lamb, a noncommissioned officer in the 9th Regiment of Foot, indicates in his 1809 memoir of his service in the American war that he left Saratoga immediately following the surrender, crossing the Connecticut River with the British Troops at Hadley before arriving at Boston in early November (Lamb: 1809 pg 195).

The Specht Journal confirms a route of march for the German troops of the Convention Army that follows a route similar to that taken by Henry Knox during the winter of 1775-1776 through western Massachusetts. This Journal, thought to have been kept for the Brunswick regiment Specht by its Lieutenant and Adjutant Anton Adolph Heinrich Du Roi (brother of August Wilhelm Du Roi “the Elder”), records a route of march through Kinderhook, Claverack, Spencertown and Nobletown (Hillsdale) New York, passing into Massachusetts at Egremont and from there through Great Barrington, Tyringham, Blandford, Westfield, West Springfield, East Springfield, Palmer, Brookfield, and so on to Boston (Specht Journal: 1995, pgs 103-109).

[From Albany to Cambridge with a few Convention prisoners not included in the main body of German troops, possibly sick and wounded left behind.]

October 31, 1777 -- Around noon we left Albany, crossed the Hudson River in a very strong wind, and arrived in the night after 14 miles at the home of an inhabitant named Johannes Müller, who was a born Hollander, where we stayed overnight. Here we met the surgeon's mate from from our artillery together with a canonier named Haan [Konrad Hahn, a deserter], both of whom stayed back from the company or had deserted. 14 miles.

November 1 -- Early in the morning we went again from here, had breakfast in Kinderhuck [Kinderhook] and stayed the night in Noble Town [Hillsdale] with an inhabitant named Bartel, a born European from Nassau. Here we met Rosenberger [Johannes Rosenberger, a deserter] from the Leib Company, who was left behind. 18 miles.

November 2 -- We went from here in the morning and came in good time to Barringtown [Great Barrington] in the afternoon, where we stayed overnight with Mr. Bargerts [Jan Burghardt, a Tory] an Englishman. Here we met Governor Skine [Philip Skene, governor of New York north of Saratoga, captured with Burgoyne] and an artillery Lieut. Jorck [2nd Lt. John York, captured Oct. 7]. 12 miles.

November 3 -- In the morning we went together from here, over Chefield [Sheffield] to Nordfolk [Norfolk] where we stayed overnight in the tavern of a Widow Wilcoks [Wilcox Tavern on Route 44, built in 1776]. But here only half of our appetite was satisfied, from inside at the door and window, and by that the contents were still as crude as possible. 22 miles.

November 4 -- Early in the morning we set forth on our journey over Winchester, where one officer decided to stay overnight because the road was so terribly bad and there was a very heavy rain. We came to an inhabitant named Wroyt [?] where we stayed overnight. But the other officers, because the house was too small and they also had no quarters, went somewhat further. Today we made only 7 miles.

November 5 -- The morning rain is still very strong. In spite of this we went from here and came at noon about 12 o'clock to New Hardfort [New Hartford] in the continuous rainy weather, with much wetness and misery, where we stayed overnight with Mr. Gilbert. Today we had a remarkably bad road and again made only 7 miles.

November 6 -- Early in the morning we went from here and came to Simsbury in the afternoon, where we stayed overnight with Mr. Beditbon [Pettibone]. 12 miles. Today it again rained the whole day.

November 7 -- Up again in the morning and came about noon to West Winsor [West Windsor]. We all ate in a tavern at noon. Immediately after eating we again crossed the Connecticut River and came to East Windsor about 3 o'clock, where we stayed overnight at Mr. Bisel [Bissell]. 12 miles.

November 8 -- Went off again in the morning and came to Wilbohom [Wilbraham] in the evening where we stayed overnight at Mr. Brutt. 22 miles.

The Convention Army was subsequently quartered on Winter Hill and Prospect Hill in the vicinity of Cambridge during the winter of 1777-1778 (Specht Journal: 1995, pg. 109), although numerous British officers were paroled and General Burgoyne returned to England in the Spring of 1778, leaving Major General Phillips in command. John Adams wrote from Braintree on February 6th, 1778 to fellow member of Congress William Ellery that “I think Burgoines army is snugg enough but they ought to be sent farther from Boston” (HA, 2006). Indeed, the British troops were later removed on April 15th, 1778 from Boston to Rutland, Massachusetts where they encamped on what came to be known as Barrack Hill. The German troops remained at Winter Hill.

Citations:

American Antiquarian Society (1877); “January 27th, 1778 Letter from John Glover to General George Washington”, in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society Volumes 70-75, pg. 58, Charles Hamilton: Worcester, Massachusetts

A few months ago, I came across a map purporting to show the route taken by more than 4,200 captive British and German soldiers and their American escorts through my part of Connecticut back in November of 1778. They were members of the so called "Convention Troops" surrendered by General Burgoyne after Saratoga under very generous terms that Congress subsequently nullified. Instead on marching to Boston for evacuation back to Europe, they languished for a year in Cambridge and Rutland Massachusetts while their status was challenged. Ultimately Congress decided to send the Convention Army from Massachusetts to Charlotteville Virginia on what is thought to be the longest march of the Revolution. Part of that route crossed through Northcentral and Northwestern Connecticut.

Intrigued, I called up Connecticut State Archaeologist Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni and learned that no formal archeological assessment has been done in Connecticut for the encampments of the Convention Army, as was done for sites associated with Rochambeau’s march through the State in 1781. It seems reasonable to assume that Burgoyne’s Convention troops, along with their militia and Continental army escorts, would likewise leave evidence in the archaeological record at their encampment sites, provided there has not been excessive disturbance since then, and that there is sufficient documentation available in the historical record to help pinpoint the location of these encampments.

I offered to undertake a research project drawing on available historical evidence to document the route taken by the Convention Army as it passed through Connecticut from Massachusetts to New York with the goal of locating, if possible, the various places where it encamped and providing the basis for potential archeological study.

I have now written my report and believe we have solid evidence for several encampment sites in a number of communities in Northwest Connecticut. Entitled Documentary Evidence for the Route of the Convention Army through Connecticut in November 1778, it provides historical background for the Convention troops that marched from Massachusetts through Connecticut on their way to Virginia. It identifies confusion and false assumptions made in the secondary source record between the movement in 1777 of certain groups of captives taken before the Convention, and those surrendered in Burgoyne’s capitulation. It examines evidence for the number of Convention troops that passed through Connecticut in 1778, their unit composition, and order of march. It also records details about the Continental and militia troops that comprised their military escorts.

It also examines evidence for the route of march of the six divisions of the Convention Army through Connecticut, documenting wherever possible the dates and places passed and the most likely roads travelled based on historical map evidence, contemporary primary sources and local records. It confirms that Convention Troops entered the State at Enfield, crossed the Connecticut River and proceeded through portions of the modern Connecticut towns of Suffield, Granby, Simsbury, Canton, New Hartford, Barkhamsted, Winchester, Colebrook, Norfolk, North Canaan, Canaan, Salisbury and Sharon, with encampments at various places along the route. One of the more exciting discoveries in this research is evidence for identifies another potential route of march for at least some of the German troops escorted by Poor’s Continental Brigade from Norfolk to New Milford via South Canaan and Kent, Connecticut.

Finally, it provides documentary details for each known place of encampment, considering how often sites may have been used by successive divisions of the Convention Army as they passed through, and assessing the quality of the available evidence to pinpoint likely areas for future archaeological research. Some of these encampments were located within structures such as barns, while others were in open fields and hillsides. Officers often found their own accommodations in local homes and taverns. This report also describes the current condition of likely encampment sites, and estimates patterns of land use since 1778 that may affect the quality of the remaining archaeological record.

Those with an interest in reading the whole thing can contact me directly. I'll share some of the primary source material and more interesting findings in subsequent posts.

May 16, 2011

I had a few pictures and a couple of pieces in the LJ recently. My last Nature's Notebook column is readable here with free registration.

The blooms of bloodroot have already come and gone, to be replaced by trillium and columbine and wild geraniums as the season advances. Marsh marigolds quiver like yolks in the swampland, and in deep secret places the tips of yellow lady-slippers have emerged from the fens and will grace the next few weeks in golden glory.

The morning air on Sunday was crisp and clean as 14 canoes and kayaks began another day of the Housatonic River Adventure. Starting May 3, participants on this waterborne odyssey and those who have gathered with them along the route have celebrated the extraordinary work of local conservation groups to protect and care for the river.

Organized by the Housatonic Valley Association to commemorate its 70th anniversary, the River Adventure is a journey by expert paddlers from the source of the Housatonic River in Massachusetts through the Northwest Corner to Long Island Sound. Events have taken place all along the route to highlight the largely positive changes that are happening within the watershed in response to the commitment of many groups and individuals.